Schaffers Stages Of Attachment

Question 1

Stages of attachment

Answer 1

A sequence of qualitatively different behaviours linked to specific ages. For babies they are linked to specific ages and all babies go through them in the same order

Question 2

Multiple attachments

Answer 2

Attachments to two or more people. Most babies develop multiple attachments once they have formed one strong attachment to one of their carers

Question 3

Schaffer and Emerson

Answer 3

• They studied the attachment behaviours of babies
• Their findings led them to develop an account of how attachment behaviours change as a baby get older
• They proposed the 4 identifiable stages of attachment

Question 4

Stage 1

Answer 4

Asocial stage

Question 5

Asocial stage

Age

Answer 5

In the babies first few weeks

Question 6

Asocial stage

Answer 6

• The observable behaviour towards humans and inanimate objects is fairly similar
• However, babies show signs that they prefer to be with other people at this stage
• The baby is forming bonds with certain people which become attachments late

Question 7

Stage 2

Answer 7

Indiscriminate attachment

Question 8

Indiscriminate attachment

Age

Answer 8

2-7 months

Question 9

Indiscriminate attachment

Answer 9

• Babies show more obvious and observable social behaviours
• They also show clear preference for humans rather than inanimate objects
• They recognise and prefer the company of familiar people
• However, they usually accept cuddles and comfort from any person
• They do not usually show separation or stranger anxiety

Question 10

Stage 3

Answer 10

Specific attachment

Question 11

Specific attachment

Age

Answer 11

Around 7 months

Question 12

Specific attachment

Answer 12

• Display classic signs of attachment towards one particular person
  • E.g. anxiety towards strangers, especially when their attachment figure is absent
  • Entirety when separated from their attachment figure
  • The person they are attached to is the primary attachment figure
  • This person is not necessarily the person the baby spends most time with
  • It is the one who offers the most interaction and responds to the baby’s signals most
  • This is the baby’s mother in 65% of cases

Question 13

Stage 4

Answer 13

Multiple attachments

Question 14

Multiple attachments

Answer 14

• Shortly after babies start to show attachment behaviour towards one person they extend this behaviour to multiple attachment with other people they regularly spend time with
• These are secondary attachments
• 29% of children form a secondary attachment within one month of forming the primary attachment (Schaffer and Emerson)

Question 15

Schaffer and Emerson procedure

Answer 15

• 60 babies - 31 boys and 29 girls
• From Glasgow and majority from skilled working-class families
• The researchers visited babies and their mothers in their homes every month for the first year and again at 18 month
• They asked the mother questions about the kind of protest their babies showed in seven evertyday separations e.g. adult leaving the room to measure separation anxiety
• This was to measure the babies attachment
• They also assessed stranger anxiety - the babies anxiety response to unfamiliar people

Question 16

Strength of Schaffer and Emerson’s research

External validity

Answer 16

• It has high external validity
• Most of the observations were made by parents during ordinary activities and reported to the researcher
• This means the babies were not distracted or made anxious by the researcher
• Therefore it is very likely that the babies behaved naturally while being observed

Question 17

Limitation of Schaffer and Emerson’s research

Objectivity

Answer 17

• The mothers were unlikely to be objective observers
• They might biased about what they noticed and what they reported
• E.g. they might not have notices when they heir baby was showing signs of anxiety
• They may also have misremembered behaviours
• This means that even if babies behaved naturally their behaviour may not have been accurately recorded

Question 18

Another limitation of Schaffer and Emerson’s research

Low validity

Answer 18

• The measure they used to assess attachment in the asocial stage may have low validity
• Young babies are quite immobile so if a <2 month old baby felt anxiety they might have displayed it subtly making it hard to observe and report
• This means that the babies may have been social but appeared asocial because of the flawed method

Question 19

Another strength of Schaffer and Emersons stages

R-W applications

Answer 19

• They have real-world applications in day care
• In the asocial and indiscriminate attachment stage babies can be comforted by any skilled adult
• However, daycare and starting daycare with an unfamiliar adult may be difficult in the specific attachment stage
• This means that parents can plan day care using the stages